News of the World in Milly Dowler phone hacking allegations

The Guardian newspaper alleges that journalists at the News of the World hacked into the voicemail of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler in 2002 shortly after she disappeared, deleting messages left on her mobile phone when her inbox filled up.

Dowler's family discovered that messages had been cleared, leading to false hopes that their daughter was still alive.

The News of the World allegedly hired private investigators to obtain addresses and phone numbers, including one ex-directory number which a local investigator, Steve Whittamore, linked to the Dowlers' home.

Broadcasters and journalists have reacted to the latest phone hacking allegations made against the News of the World.

Baker's 5 Live colleague Nicky Campbell posted a link to The Guardian's report on his own Twitter page along with the words "My blood runs cold".

Julie Etchingham, who presents ITV1's News at Ten and the channel's Tonight current affairs strand, tweeted that she was "trying hard to fathom the depths plumbed by the [News of the World] Milly Dowler story".

"How much is one family supposed to be able to take?" she added.

Conservative political blogger Iain Dale, when asked by a Twitter user if he would boycott the paper, replied: "[It's] difficult to boycott something I don't buy anyway. But I am very shocked by today's revelation."

News International, which owns the News of the World, said in a statement: "We have been co-operating fully with Operation Weeting since our voluntary disclosure in January restarted the investigation into illegal voicemail interception.

"This particular case is clearly a development of great concern and we will be conducting our own inquiry as a result. We will obviously co-operate fully with any police request on this should we be asked."

News of the World representatives plan to meet with the police at 9.30am this morning to discuss the allegations.

The Dowler family's lawyer Mark Lewis described the alleged actions as "heinous" and confirmed that the family intend to take the News of the World to court for damages.

Levi Bellfield was found guilty of Dowler's murder last month and has since been sentenced to life in prison.